Iraq forces 'need extra US help'

Insurgents are targeting Iraqis more and more

The top US commander in Iraq has expressed concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to cope with security in the run-up to elections next month.

The head of Central Command, General John Abizaid, said Iraqi troops did not have the training or experience to do the job without extra American help.

In the latest violence, 17 Iraqis were killed on their way to work at a US base in the northern city of Tikrit.

Another 13 were wounded in the attack, at about 0830 (0530GMT), the US said.

"Two vehicles opened fire on civilian buses that had stopped to let the workers off, who were employed by coalition forces," said Capt Bill Coppernoll, spokesman for the US 1st Infantry Division.

In another attack, a suicide car bomber drove into an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint in Beiji, about 120km (75 miles) north from Tikrit, killing three soldiers and wounding 18 at about 0930 (0630GMT), Capt Coppernoll said.

At least 14 Iraqis died in bomb attacks in Baghdad and Mosul on Saturday.

Six American soldiers were also killed in attacks by insurgents across Iraq on Saturday, the US military has said.

Need for stability

Speaking at a regional conference on Gulf security in Bahrain, he called on Iraq's neighbours - in particular, Syria and Iran - to do more to curb the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq.

"It's very important for everybody to realise that the stability of Iraq is as dependent on its neighbours as it is on the people inside Iraq," he said.

"If the neighbours allow groups of people who are against the stability of Iraq to operate from their territory, then we have a very difficult situation," he added.

He said it was clear that former regime members had the money and motivation to help insurgents "and we have asked the Syrian government to put a stop to that".

But he said he was disappointed that the Iraqi army was still developing too slowly to cope with the security situation.

"It had been our hope that we would be able to have a combination of increases that mainly were Iraqi troops' increases," he said.

"And while the Iraqi troops are larger in number than they used to be, those forces have to be seasoned more, trained more. So, it's necessary to bring more American forces." However, Gen Abizaid said border security had improved, with less infiltration by foreign insurgents.

UN warning

The Pentagon announced last week that the level of American forces would rise to 150,000 by mid-January - an increase of 12,000.

But a senior United Nations official has said that it would be impossible to hold elections in Iraq, if the current state of insecurity remains.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the special adviser to the UN secretary general, told the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad that security must improve for elections to take place as scheduled.

His personal view was that it would not be possible to hold the polls "if the circumstances stay as they are".

Mr Brahimi appealed to the international community for help in bringing order to the country.

Two cars exploded at the entry of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Saturday, killing seven people and wounding more than 50.

Later, a suicide bomber blew up his car beside a bus in the northern city of Mosul, carrying Kurdish militiamen linked to one of the two main Kurdish parties in the north.